Cows on Taber farm

This photograph is a part of a series of photographs taken by the Ohio Department of Agriculture documenting farms in Ohio. Pictured here are cows out to pasture on the Taber farm near Barnesville, Ohio, owned by Lewis J. Taber. By the 1920s, Taber had risen to prominence within the Patrons of Husbandry (more commonly known as the Grange), and served as Ohio's first Director of Agriculture from 1921-1923. From 1923 to 1941, he was a Master of the National Grange, and later served as Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Farmers and Traders Life Insurance Company in Syracuse, New York, from 1926 to 1958. Taber also played an active role in the Ohio Council of Churches, serving six terms as president, and in local government. Spanning 55 acres, Taber's farm focused primarily on intensive farming practices where he grew various crops and raised 40 head of livestock. Taber raised 30 cows and sold milk and ice cream. The Department of Agriculture notes that Taber had the best corn of any other farm in the area